The Parable of Virgil and the Doughnut Shop (Matthew 24:45-51)

Virgil was a young adult who worked at Delectable Donuts. Virgil has worked at other fast food restaurants and other retail jobs before, so in terms of dealing with customers and co-workers alike, Delectable Donuts did not feel any different from the other jobs. Delectable Donuts differed greatly, however, in the hours Virgil worked. Naturally, as a doughnut shop, Delectable Donuts opened at 5 a.m., so every morning commuter could grab a breakfast doughnut before driving to work. In order for the shop to open for customers at 5 a.m., the 1^st shift employees had to report to work at 4:00 a.m. In order for Virgil get ready and drive to work, Virgil had to wake up at 3:00 a.m. When Virgil took the job, he thought to himself, “I can do 3:00 a.m. I’m a night owl. 3:00 a.m. is just late at night.” Virgil came to realize that 3:00 a.m. was not late at night, it was really early in the morning, and Virgil was definitely not a morning person. He hated having to wake up so early in the morning, so much he struggled to wake up every morning. He even had to set 12 alarms! Needing to pay some bills, and having job security, Virgil got comfortable and stayed with the job.

Every Monday at noon, as the shifts changed, Mr. Mogavero, Virgil’s boss at Delectable Donuts, would have a weekly meeting with all his employees. Virgil never understood why Mr. Mogavero insisted on having meetings. They were always “fiscal year” this and “weekly revenue” that. Virgil did not know why he needed to know about these things. As long as he got his paycheck, he was content. This meeting, however, would have an impact on Virgil’s life. “Finally,” Mr. Mogavero concluded, “our beloved janitor Mike Kingston has put in his two-weeks notice because he has decided the times has come to retire. Let’s give him a round of applause for such diligent work.” The employees slowly began clap, including Virgil. They didn’t understand why they had to clap for someone not present. “With that being said,” Mr. Mogavero continued, “I need to find a new janitor to take his place. Since I prefer to promote from within, I will post a sign-up sheet on my office door for anyone who would to apply for the job. As the janitor, you report to work at 8:00 p.m. After you help 2^nd shift close shop, you will spend the first half of your shift cleaning up for the day, from cleaning the dishes and pans to wiping down tables and mopping floors. For the second half of your shift, you will begin prep work for the next work day, so when 1^st shift comes in, they can start cooking. Then you will clock out at 4:30 a.m. Since the janitor has no supervisor watching him, the employee must have good self-efficacy, meaning he or she must motive himself or herself to execute the tasks at hand. Oh, and for working such awful hours, I will give you a dollar raise.” Virgil’s ears perked up at that last sentence. Virgil had only received nickel raises or dime raises, not whole dollar raises. Virgil thought to himself, “I could really use that raise to help me with my bills and debts. Besides, those hours are more like the night owl hours I was looking for. And I’m pretty sure I have good self-eff…self-effeff…self-effeffeff…that thing that Mr. Mogavero said.”

After the meeting, Virgil marched up to Mr. Mogavero’s office, and he signed up for an interview, with his name on the top line. On Tuesday morning, Mr. Mogavero interviewed him first. Virgil felt like the interview went well, but just in case, he worked extra hard on Wednesday and Thursday, so Mr. Mogavero could see on his patrol of the kitchen he indeed worked hard. By golly, it worked! On Friday, Mr. Mogavero called Virgil in his office to inform Virgil he got the job. He would report at 8:00 p.m. on Monday to train with Mike Kingston during his last week of employment.

Virgil did report to work on Monday at 8:00, where he met Mike Kingston. Virgil had seen Mike Kingston in passing at his shift start up, but he had never gotten to know him. While Mike seemed nice and kind, he came off as peculiar to Virgil. He always had to constantly move, and he always had to find work, even to the point of inventing work for himself. Virgil played along, but he definitely planned on making changes when he took on the role full-time. The week went by quickly. Before Virgil knew it, Mike handed him the keys, and now he officially took the role as the janitor of Delectable Donuts.

The next Monday Virgil reported to work at 8:00 p.m. He helped 2^nd shift wrap up, and as the last employee walked out, he locked the doors. Virgil stood all alone in the doughnut shop. He began working right away…and he found himself done the clean-up by 10:00 p.m. Virgil didn’t remember the work going so quickly when two of them worked the job. Perhaps as an older gentleman, Mr. Kingston worked slower and took longer. Virgil decided to take lunch early, but that only killed a half hour. He thought about starting prep early, but he didn’t want to do it too early. So he took a seat in the eating area, pulled out his phone and began scrolling on Facebook. When he got to the end of his news feed, he switched to Twitter. When he got to the end of Twitter, he switched to Instagram. When he got to end of Instagram, he cycled back around to Facebook and repeat the process. Unfortunately, no one really updated their social media at midnight on a weekday, but it really didn’t matter because soon Virgil’s phone would run out of battery life. Virgil tried to pass the time by figuring out various ways to count the ceiling tiles (72 to be exact), but that quickly bored him. Virgil began the prep work, but he paced himself, stretching out his time, and even then, he barely made it to the end of his shift.

The next day, Tuesday, Virgil came prepared. He brought phone charger. He downloaded music streaming apps like Pandora and Spotify. He figured out how to hook his phone up to the shop speakers via Bluetooth, so he could stop listening to the awful elevator music Mr. Mogavero insisted playing in the shop and instead listen to his favor rap and hip-hop beats. He downloaded a Kindle and Nook app, so he could read books. He downloaded Netflix and Hulu, so he could watch movies and television shows. Now Virgil could better pace himself by giving himself multiple breaks, and now Virgil would never face boredom. The following day, Wednesday, Virgil brought in his Nintendo Switch. He was grateful Nintendo had invented a portable console because now he could get caught up on the latest video games. Now, between listening to music, reading books, playing games and watching movies and televisions shows, Virgil had a comfortable pace at work.

Soon, Virgil would become comfortable at work, too comfortable. See, Virgil enjoyed all this new-found free time. The best part was he was on the clock, so he got paid for his free time! He wished he could free up more time on his shift. Before he knew it, he did figure out how to get more free time. After locking up, he would get his work done as quickly as possible, so he could have as much free time as possible. He even figured the absolute latest he could start prep work to make sure he looked busy when everyone on 1^st shift arrived for work. Virgil thought he was getting away with it, but he wasn’t as smooth as he thought. Mr. Mogavero had notice dust collecting on the ceiling fans, dirt swirling on the floors, the tables stick, and the dishes had a residue on all of them. The shop never got this messy with Mike Kingston as janitor. Mr. Mogavero decided the time had come to give Virgil a surprise audit.

On a random night, Mr. Mogavero got in his car and began driving to his doughnut shop. As he turned onto the road of his doughnut shop, he could hear the loud pounding of his bass. “Wow,” Mr. Mogavero thought to himself, “I can’t believe how busy the club can get on a weekday night to open for business.” To Mr. Mogavero’s surprise, the loud, thumping sound did not come from the club, but from his beloved doughnut shop! Mr. Mogavero quickly parked his car in the shop’s parking lot and barged through door. “VIRGIL!” he yelled, but he did not see Virgil in the eating area. He barged through the door to the kitchen. “VIRGIL!” he screamed, but he could not find Virgil in the kitchen. Searching for him in the shop, Mr. Mogavero noticed the light in his office turned on. Mr. Mogavero swung open the door, and there was Virgil, sitting in his boss’s leather office chair, bobbing his head to the music while playing his Nintendo Switch. “VIRGIL!” Mr. Mogavero shouted at the top of his lungs. Virgil looked up startled. His face turned pale at the sight of his fuming boss. Before he could get out the three words “I can explain…” his boss shouted three sentence that would impact his life. “GET OUT OF HERE! YOU’RE FIRED! I DON’T EVER WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN!”

What you have just read is what I call The Parable of Virgil and the Doughnut Shop. This is a 21^st century version of a parable Jesus told in the 1^st century. Back while in seminary, my preaching professor taught us that when teaching a parable of Jesus, a preacher should re-tell the parable in a 21^st century context. I agree with his teaching. All the parable Jesus taught Jesus extremely contextualized, so his open-minded audience would understand the message, while the close-minded audience would not understand. Therefore, Jesus used the 1^st century culture as his context, a context which would make no sense to the modern-day culture in the 21^st century. So preacher should study what Jesus intended the parable to mean, and then teach the parable in a 21^st century cultural context that the audience could comprehend. Still, because I am not an omniscient rabbi, my parable fails in comparison to the Lord’s parable, so let’s understand the original parable in light of the 1^st century context.

Matthew 24:45-51 begins a series of 3 consecutive parables, with first one starting at 24:45 and the last one ending at 25:30. Most Bible translations don’t give this sermon a title, probably because of its short length. The few Bible versions that do give the parable a title have given it a wide array of titles, and none of those titles call it a parable. The Holman Christian Standard Bible calls it “Faithful Service to the Messiah.” The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) names it “The Faithful or Unfaithful Slave.” The Contemporary English Version (CEV) title it “Faithful and Unfaithful Servants.” The New King James Version (NKJV) calls it “Illustration of Two Servants.” At least the NKJV recognizes as an illustration, albeit not a parable.

The commonality among all these titles reveals the structure of the parable. For those interested in the fancy theological terms, theologians call this a dichotomy. In a dichotomy, the listener hears two examples. Based on the attitudes and behaviors of the two characters alone, the listener clearly understands which character plays the good example and which person plays the bad character. Matthew enjoys uses dichotomies. Throughout his Gospel account, you’ll see dichotomies of good examples and bad example. On top of his love for dichotomies, Matthew further strengthens his dichotomies by explicitly emphasizing that the good example receives a reward, but the bad example gets punished. Interesting enough, in this parable, the good example and the bad example both come from the same character! It is as if the parable is saying, “If the servant is a good servant, he will do this, but if the servant is a bad servant, he will do that.”

This parable also appears in Luke, but Luke uses it in a different context. Matthew utilizes the parable to talk about the coming Messianic kingdom, whereas Luke uses the parable to talk about the expectations of a disciple.

Matthew 24:45-51 (ESV)-

⁴⁵ “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. ⁴⁷ Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ ⁴⁹ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, ⁵⁰ the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know ⁵¹ and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

In Matthew 24:45, Jesus describes the servant as “faithful” and “wise.” Matthew records Greek adjective πιστός (pistis), or faithful, for the first time in his gospel here, but it appears twice in the next chapter. The other adjective, φρόνιμος (phronimos), translated “wise,” appears seven times in the gospel, as opposed to 0 times in Mark, 2 times in Luke and 0 times in John. More specifically φρόνιμος (phronimos), appears 5 times in Matthew 24-25. Therefore, the reader must consider such usage unique to Matthew. The Greek word φρόνιμος (phronimos) might be where the English word “prudence” came from.  Matthew wants to convey that the servant Jesus finds as wise is a servant who is both intelligent and sensible, able to judge and determine how to use practice his wisdom. Some have suggested the servant talked about represents the disciples. Just as the master placed this servant in authority over the servants, the disciples, who become the apostles, would have leadership authority over the first century church. The Luke parallel proves such thinking incorrect, however, since in the Luke passage, Peter asks, “Is this parable just for us or for everyone?” and the answer Jesus gives hints the parable applies to everyone.

In the 1^st century A.D., a wealth head of house could have several slaves. In a wealthy home, the term “household” would not simply refrain to the family. The household includes everyone in the house, including the servants. When Jesus says “household,” he probably meant the servants, thus making the faithful and wise servant the head servant of the household. When a household had several slaves, a master would commonly set aside a slave as a manager or steward. As seen in the passage, the head servant distributed the food portions to his servants as one of his chief jobs. What an honor for the servant to work in this role! The master would only put someone he esteemed greatly to take charge of what his heart valued most. To put a servant in change of it all, the master must have trusted this servant. Backing us out of the parable and back into the 1^st century AD context Jesus taught this parable in, Jesus might also begin revealing the meaning of the parable already. In both Galatians and Ephesians, Paul calls the church a household. Perhaps Jesus already hints the servants refer to Christian. Indeed, God has entrusted the church and the kingdom of God to Christians, he expects us to practice good stewardship when handling it. To assume the that servant placed over the household is a pastor, however, would probably be taking it too far.

In Matthew 24:46, Jesus answers the rhetorical question he presents in the previous verse. Jesus calls the faithful and wise servant blessed, the same blessed Jesus uses in the Beatitudes.

Matthew 24:47 begins with Jesus saying, “Truly I say to you” or “I tell you the truth.” This phrase only appears in the gospels, only used by Jesus, to lay certainty a divine truth. The faithful and wise servant is put over all the master’s possessions, everything he owns, even up to his property. The reward makes sense. Since the master saw he could trust his servant with a partial portion of his property, he now feels comfortable putting the servant in charge of much more.

As Matthew 24:47 ends, so closes the good example of the good. If you haven’t made the connections yet, the master is the Lord, and the servants are his people, the Christians. Jesus has entrusted the kingdom of God on earth to the Christians. The faithful and wise Christian is the Christian who faithfully carries the will of God and advances the kingdom. The faithful and wise Christian constantly thinks about the Lord’s work. The faithful and wise Christian desires to glorify God in all aspects of life. Just like the servant put over his fellow servants, the Christian leader serves those below him more than uses his power above him. Upon the Lord’s return, the good servant will receive a reward for his faithful and wise actions.

In Matthew 24:48, Jesus seems to talk about the same servant, but now he calls the servant a wicked servant. The Greek word for wicked, κακός (kakos), occurs only 3 times in Matthew, despite a common word throughout the New Testament. The Greek text literally reads that the wicked servant “says in his heart.” In Biblical times, people thought thoughts originated from the heart, just like today we associate the heart with feeling, despite numerous research affirming it only pumps blood. The wicked servant thinks in his heart his master is delayed. A wealthy man in the 1^st century A.D. could own properties many miles apart. With the traveling conditions of the day, anything could prevent someone from coming home on time. Something has held his master up from returning at the expected time, so the servant has much more time away from his master. Temptation sets in to act differently than his commands. He plans that he will begin his work closer to the time of the master’s return. Until then, he will act as he pleases.

In Matthew 24:49, the reader sees how the wicked servant’s think impacts his actions. He no longer sees himself as the head servant, but rather, he thinks of himself as the master. Instead of using his new-found power to help his fellow servants, he uses it to abuse them. Beating the servants does not mean that the servant gets into fights with other servants. As the servant left in charge, this servant could bestow any punishment he saw fit, including beating, the maximum punishment. The wicked servant would abuse this power and mistreat his fellow servants. The compound Greek word σύνδουλος (syndoulos), translated “fellow servant,” only appears outside of Matthew in Colossians and Revelation. In Colossians and Revelation, σύνδουλος (syndoulos) refers to believers. Therefore, Matthew probably had in mind the same meaning. If the master found out about the severe beatings, he would feel enraged. As much as the 21^st century world would hate to think of people as property, the 1^st century world would have seen a managing servant beating fellow servants as a mistreatment of property. The master would personally investigate the beatings to see if the punishment fit.

The wicked servant also abuses his power by indulging himself and drinking with drunkards. In general, 1^st century culture frowned upon drunkenness. Masters expected their servants to be sober always, so they may serve always. The sentence structure does not explicitly make the wicked servant a drunkard, but the context implies he has become like his drunkard friends.

In Matthew 24:50, the reader observes that the wicked servant has trapped himself. He expects his master to come back at a much later time, so he becomes lax, so lax he lulls himself into a false sense of security. Because of his relaxed attitude, the wicked servant does not prepare for his master’s return. He has no excuse when the master finally returns.

In Matthew 24:51, the master has two punishments set aside for such a wicked servant. First, the master will διχοτομέω (dichotomeo) the servant, most commonly translated “cut into pieces.” During the first century A.D., only the worst people received such a violent death penalty for the most heinous crimes. While cutting a disobedient servant to pieces might sound extreme, Jesus conveys to his audience the severity of mishandling the kingdom of God. Second, the master assigns him to a place with the hypocrites, where people weep and teeth gnash. For Matthew, no one can receive a worse title than “hypocrite.” The title fits the wicked servant, for the opposite of a hypocrisy is sincerity, which is exactly what a faithful servant is. Therefore, the punishment fits the wicked servant. Matthew wants his audience to know this place houses the worst of the worst, including wicked servants. Together, the listener of the parable understands the unprepared servants receives the worst of punishments for his wicked behavior. The hearer of the parable comprehends the wicked servant has received pain and loss for his behavior. The weeping and gnashing of teeth conveys this truth, two reactions someone might have for extreme loss or extreme pain.

Again, let’s make sure we understand what the parable means regarding the wicked servant. More condemning than the wicked servant’s destructive habits is his thinking that he can get away with because of his master’s absence. The wicked servant is somebody who has not been a good steward of the kingdom of God. He or she has abused his or her power, and he or shall has mistreated other people. More destruction than the wicked servant’s hands is his heart. Quite the opposite of the faithful and wise servant, the wicked servant will receive the worst punishment for such actions. In the same way, if there is anything worse than sin, it is unconfessed and unrepentant sin. What condemns humanity worse than sin is unconfessed and unrepentant sin. This is what brings down the wrath of God.

Clearly, the moral of the story is that a faithful and wise Christian anticipates the return of the Lord Jesus, their master. But what does it mean to anticipate the return of Jesus? Let’s look at the parable again. Notice that the servant does not sit at the door and wait to greet him warning. Note that the servant does not try to calculate or figure out when the master will return. If anything, what gets the wicked servant in trouble is that he figures he knows when the master will return, so he takes advantage of the time away from his master! The difference between the faithful and wise servant and the wicked servant is their attitude and behavior. Therefore, the Christian can conclude that anticipation for the return of Christ does not mean enthusiastic speculation, but rather, it means faithfully serving the kingdom of God.

No one warned me that receiving a Masters in Divinity will make everyone see me as the expert in all things Biblical, religious, spiritual and theological. I get a lot of questions and a lot of requests. Requests can begin with, “Read this book,” “listen to this podcast,” or “watch this video,” but all the requests end with “and tell me what you think.” Most of these questions deal with the subjects of spiritual disciplines or ecclesiology (how to do church), but every now I will get fielded questions about eschatology (Biblical prophecy on end times). When I get those end time requests, I tell that person, “Alright, I will read this book/listen to this podcast/watch this video, but I want you to do something for me. I want to you find the 16^th season of The Simpsons, either On Demand or DVD. I want to watch the episode called ‘Thank God It’s Doomsday’ in exchange.” Now I want to quickly add a disclaimer by saying I only say this to mature and strong Christians. I wouldn’t say this to weak or immature Christians because the episode might come off to them as offensive for making fun of Christians. In reality, it more so makes fun of Christians who study end times too intensely. Just like the foolish and wicked servant in the parable, Homer Simpson constructs some bogus math equation to predict the rapture. I want Christians to watch this just so they can understand how they look to non-Christians (and maybe Christians) too when they try to predict the end times.

More specifically, I want them to watch it for a line Homer says in the middle of the episode. As Homer Simpson prophecies the end times, wearing his sandwich boards, TV anchorman Kent Brockman interviews Homer. Kent asks Homer, “Homer, what turned you from sad drunk to mad monk.” Homer answers, “Here's my angle- there's no way in God's Heaven I should get into God's Heaven, but maybe He'll let me in, if I warn others the Apocalypse is coming, as I previously shouted.” I want Christians to hear this line because I want them to think about their intent and purpose of prophesying the end times. Matthew 24:36 aside, even if someone somehow could figure out the perfect timeline for the rapture, the tribulation and the millennial kingdom, what good would it bring? Like Homer Simpson, do they expect to have something special with God if they create that perfect timeline? In human terms, friendships don’t strengthen when one friend goes telling the other friend’s deepest secrets. They weaken! How much more for the divine! Someone might argue, “Well, wouldn’t it help evangelism?” I have always felt like using end times for evangelism is like someone selling fire insurance going through someone’s house, pointing out all the fire hazards, proclaiming a great fire is inevitable. In a generation that prefers to see Christianity as a relationship and not a religion, is the person scared by the eminent tribulation really in a relationship with Jesus, or are they submitting to a dictator in fear of facing punishment?

Matthew 24:45-51 exposes why the Father wants to keep the day and the hour unknown. If Christians evangelized the gospel with the exact dates and times of the rapture and tribulation, it would create a bunch of foolish and wicked servants. They would take advantage of the time the Lord was away. They would indulge in sin and abuse others. Then, just before the Lord returns, they would clean up their act, so everything looks perfect when the Lord returns. This leads to the other error that Christians commit when they focus too much on eschatology. They think about the future more than the present. Jesus concerns himself with both the present and the future, and Christians should follow in those footsteps. Once again, I point out to you that what gets the wicked servant in trouble is that he thinks he know when his master will return. The faithful and wise servant focuses on the tasks the master put in charge of him. The faithful and wise servant concerns himself more with what the master find himself doing when the master returns rather than the date and time when the master returns. Christians fail theologically, in both doctrine and application, when they focus too much on Christ’s return. Christians theologically succeed when they concentrate on doing Jesus taught them. If Christians want to live as faithful and wise servants, they think about what to do until Jesus returns more than thinking about when Jesus will actually return.

As mentioned earlier, this passage does also appear in the Gospel according to Luke. Luke ends the passage in a different way. In Luke 12:48b, Luke writes, “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.” It’s a Bible verse many Christians know, but probably more people know the a very similar saying spoken by Ben Parker in the Spider Man movie: “With great power comes great responsibility.” As Christians, we have received so much responsibility from Jesus. We have so much to do, we can’t waste time trying to figure out at unknown date and time. Let us be found doing the will of Jesus, so we too can receive the title of faithful and wise servants.

A Nostalgic Reminiscing of My Second Year of Bible Quizzing on its 15th Anniversary: The Sophomore Slump

If you ever look up the definition of “disappointment” in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, you’ll get a wordy definition along the lines of “the act or the instance of failing to meet expectations.” If I may offer a less wordy definition, I would define disappointment as “when expectations are not met.” And that perfectly describes my 2nd year of Bible Quizzing.

I had ended my rookie year of Bible Quizzing on a high. I had mastered the situation question, and I could even get a few other questions here and there. As for my team, in the ACC Tournament, my team was one match away from becoming a semifinalist, and in the Ohio Tournament, my team was one match away from entering the playoffs. In my mind, individually and as team member, we could only go up. By the end of my rookie year, I had idolized Jake and Josh Moss. Their superior smartness had gotten them both in Top 50 Bible Quizzers List (they were in top 10, to be exact). I wanted to be like them. I decided my goal for the next year of quizzing would be to make the Top 50 Bible Quizzers List. And there is the high expectations.

I started hard right after the previous year ended. I began writing questions. I would write them on paper, and as I typed them up, I would double-check for errors. My questions weren’t always the best. Most of the time, they were like fill in the blanks, but instead of blanks, I stuck a question word in there (ironically, this is how Bible quizzing does questions today, but not back then). Nevertheless, they worked. By the time next year of quizzing came around, I had written an exhaustive list of questions for Mark chapters 1 & 2. I had also taken the time to memorize James chapter 1 in its entirety. And, of course, I continued my practice of finding situation questions until they were key. By the time the next quizzing year rolled around, I found myself studied up. I just needed the practice. Again, all the studying produced high expectations.

This year, Ark Bible had a 7-quizer quiz team. Returning from the previous year, the Ark Bible quiz team had Jake, Josh, Krystal, Christine and myself. Joining the team for their rookie year, the Ark team added Tim and Deanna. Tim had come from a long line in the Moss dynasty. Tim had actually come along for last year’s invitational as a fan when a quizzer dropped out of the team halfway through the season. Tim knew quizzing through watching it, and now Tim would experience quizzing. While Deanna took part in the Ark Youth Fellowship, Deanna knew only about quizzing from what she heard from quizzers. Deanna would have to start from the beginning.

The 2003 Ark Bible quiz team

I don’t remember too much what happened during the 2003 quizzing season. I remember on the first Sunday of season Tim got sick, so he had to miss the first meet of his first year. When you have a 7-quizzer team, and the rules say that only 6 quizzers can be on the quizzing roster for a match, Tim’s absence meant I could quiz every quiz match for the first quiz meet. Not only did I quiz in every match, I started every match. When Tim would join the team for the rest of the season, it would not always be that way. I had to prove myself to even make the roster, and I had to prove myself even more to get a starting spot. I could not always prove myself. Constantly I found myself as a substitute, and even a few times I didn’t make the roster for the match. I would remember sitting on the bench, arms crossed, stewing in my anger that I couldn’t quiz the match. How could I make the Top 50 Quizzers List if I had to skip over a match without collecting any points? Honestly, though, I got what I deserved. I didn’t deserve to always start, and sometimes I didn’t even deserve a spot on the roster. I had fallen back into old pattern of approaching situation questions conservatively. I did not buzz in until I absolutely knew quote and I absolutely knew the answer. When you have quizzers on the other teams that just buzz in on the first word and hope it’s key, that conservative play will not suffice. By the end of the season, I scored 120 points (in a 19-match season, that’s 6.3 points per match), landing me in 194th place. So how did I do for my sophomore season, especially in light of my rookie season? I really can’t tell you. I can’t tell you how many points I scored in 2002 now, and I couldn’t tell you back in 2003 either. I could have scored more, I could have scored less, I could have scored the same. All I know is that I felt scored more points back in 2002, and in my mind, I felt like I did worse. This is where our definition of disappointment kicks in. I had high expectations for the 2003 quizzing season, and I did not meet those expectations. Therefore, I felt disappointed in myself, and the overall quizzing season felt like a disappointment to me.

The "Quizzer Extraordinaire" at Pequea High School for the 2003 ACC Tournament

Despite the disappointment of the 2003 quizzing season, I still had high expectation for the ACC Tournament. The previous year the Ark Bible quiz team made it to the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament playoffs, one match away from becoming a semifinalist. This year, I expected my team to make to the semifinals of the playoffs, so we could at least take home a semifinalist trophy. Again, the definition of disappointment kicks in. We did not make it to the semifinals of the playoffs. Heck, we did not even to the playoffs at all! The only emotion I could feel was disappointment. But see, while the season can be about either individual or team (or both), come tournaments, it comes down to team performance. Not only did I feel disappointment in myself, but I felt disappointed about my team. At least 5 of us were quizzing veterans. All 5 veterans should have improved from the previous year. Therefore, in my mind, we should have naturally made the ACC Tournament semifinals. I couldn’t help but feel disappointment toward my team as whole and towards my teammates individually.

2003 ACC Tournament at Pequea High School

During the following week, I quickly dismissed the poor performance as a series of unfortunate events or an unlucky streak. I turned my eyes to the Invitational Tournament. This year, the ACC hosted the Invitational Tournament, and Ohio would come to us. The tournament itself was hosted by Calvary Church, and my coaches, the Willmans, became the team’s “host family.” I remember my father driving me in his truck to the Willmans. I remember telling me on the ride up, “Now Graham, you’ll be spending a whole weekend with your teammates. You might get sick or tired of them, but they are still your friends.” I didn’t know how my dad could foreshadow this. He must have saw my disappointment with team and teammates the previous Sunday. I shrugged my father’s words off. Like he said, they were my friends. I couldn’t imagine being angry with them. When we got to the Willman’s house, I showed Krystal my quizzing buddy, a Stitch doll I got on the Disney Cruise that summer. When the rest of the team arrived, we had dinner, we had a dessert of butterscotch chocolate chip cookies made by Krystal, we had quiz practice, and then we watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail before going to bed.

Josh and Deanna standing next to the church van in front of Calvary Church

Early on Saturday morning, we left our “host family’s” house for Calvary Church, the host of the Invitational Tournament. Back then, the Invitational Tournament format was set up so that all the teams were place in 16 groups. All the teams in the group would quiz against each other in round robin style. The top 2 teams would advance to a double elimination playoff bracket for the championship. The previous year, the Ark quiz team missed the double elimination playoffs by 1 match. This year, all I wanted to see was my team makes the playoffs. Once again, the definition of disappointment comes into play. Halfway through our round robin, we’re weren’t doing too hot. Based on our previous matches’ results and based on the performance of the other teams in our group, we had deduced that we needed to win the rest of our matches to make the playoffs. Our next match was against an Ohio team. We kept it close, but the Ohio team had taken a small lead. In order to win, we needed team bonus, and I was the best candidate to get the team bonus. No matter how hard I tried to buzz in, I just couldn’t get in. Finally, it came down to question 15, and I decided to just buzz in on the second word and hope I got it. The quizmaster began the question, “Whose cup...” I buzzed in, and I froze. The only cup I could think of was the cup of the New Covenant, mentioned in the Last Supper passage, but that wasn’t a who. Unable to think up a who, with time running out, I still guessed the cup of the New Covenant. Of course, it got marked wrong. I came to find out the right answer was Jesus’s Cup. I was so upset at myself. We were quizzing on the Gospel of Mark. Why couldn’t I just answer the all-else-fails answer of Jesus? I would have gotten it right, our team would have earned team bonus, and we would still be in the run for the playoffs. Instead, I answered incorrectly, our team lost, and we were knocked out of the playoffs. Our remaining two round robin matches were against Spring City and Reading, two teams that were friends of ours and still had a shot to make it in the playoffs. Because they were our friends and because they did still have a shot to make it to the playoffs, we took it easy on them, so they won. It didn’t help Spring City, but it did help Reading, and they made it to the playoffs.

The Stitch Doll

Knocked out of the tournament and with a lot of free time, I had a lot of time to think about why the team failed in another tournament. I still stewed in my anger toward myself for answering a who question with a what answer, instead of going with the all-else-fails who answer, which would have won the match. But as I said earlier, tournaments are about team performance. I felt like everyone on the team was distracted for one reason or another. I was distracted for the most unnecessary reason. The younger Moss and Willman siblings, fascinated that the Stitch doll could talk to you, wanted to play with it. As the nice, kind guy I am, I let them play with it. Halfway through the day, I asked them for the doll for my next match. Of course, none of the knew where the doll went. They had lost him. I had to spend time between matches searching the whole church for the doll. I eventually found the doll, all alone, sitting on a table in the fellowship hall, but I had lost so much time, time I should have spent studying, practicing or at least watching other matches. Once again, resentment turned towards my teammates as well as myself. I wanted to get away from it all. I could get away from my teammates. In fact, I did. When we got back to the Willman’s home, I just stayed in the bed until the next morning. I couldn’t get away from myself, however, as bad as I wanted to get away from myself. I wanted to hide from myself in that bed, but I couldn’t.

The "Quizzer Extraordinaire" at Calvary Church for the 2003 Invitational

On Sunday, the Invitational final matches were held at Lancaster Mennonite School’s Fine Arts Center because Calvary Church had its Sunday morning worship service. We saw Rockville beat Paradise 2 for the Invitational Championship. They announced there would be a quizzing after party back at Lancaster Mennonite School that evening. Our coaches would not allow us to go because of wintry mix happening that evening. Half of me was angry I couldn't even participate in that, but the other half of me was glad. I had enough of my quizzing teammates and enough of me as a quizzer myself. The quizzing year had ended, and I actually was kind of glad it ended.

After a couple of days of calming down, relaxing and reflecting, I realized what I had done. Without knowing the dictionary definition of disappointment, I realized I wasn’t angry, upset or frustrated with my teammates or myself, but I was just disappointed. I was disappointed because I had set expectations too high, for both myself and my team. I had 6 years of left of quizzing in me. I had time to improve, and so did my team. All of a sudden, I missed my teammates. I wanted to see them again. I couldn’t wait to get started preparing myself for the next year. And so I did, penning the first question for Exodus a few days later. This time, however, I would set realistic goals and expectations, so I wouldn’t face disappointment again the next year.

Happy 15th anniversary to my sophomore Bible quizzing team!

Spiritual Gifts as Worship (Romans 12:3-8)

Good Morning. I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving. But let’s be honest, with Thanksgiving behind us, we’re all thinking about Christmas now. The Christmas decorations are already up in the Holcomb home. Part of me wants to complain that the Christmas decorations are up before it’s even December, but the other part of me thinks, “If we are going through all this trouble to set up the Christmas tree, it’s going to be up as long as possible,” so I’m fine with it. Even though this is the first Sunday after Thanksgiving, it is not an Advent Sunday. There is enough Sundays before Christmas in December this year to hold off the first Sunday of Advent to the first Sunday in December. But I will admit, I am one of those people thinking about Christmas. Hey, at least I’m thinking about the true meaning of Christmas: the historical event in which the Creator of the universe comes down to his creation as a humble baby. I’m thinking about the whole story: Mary, Joseph, the angels, the shepherds, and especially the magi.

Out of all the characters of the Christmas story, I find the magi the most interesting. The historical record of the magi can be found in Matthew 2:1-12, but over the years, as the Christmas story is told over and over again, legends arose about these magi, hence why they got renamed “wise men” and “three kings.” Usually, I quickly dismiss such legends because I don’t want confuse legend with the historically accurate inspired Word of God. One of these legends, however, I do like, just because it displays the symbolism behind the gifts the magi brought. The legend states that one of them was a young man, and in his youthful idealism he looked for a good and pure king, who would rule the people equally and fairly. He carried gold, a fitting gift for king. Another was middle-aged man. He had pushed aside such idealistic hope, and now he wanted the answer to deep the questions of life, ones about origins, meaning, morals and destiny. He realized only a God could answer such questions, and so sought to find God. His gift was frankincense with which to worship God, an incense offered to God as a sacrifice. The third was an elderly man. He was well aware his life was drawing to and end, and death would be near. Looking back on that life, all he could notice was that it was stained with in. He longed to discover a Savior. Through his studies, as well as logic and reasoning, he concluded that a Savior must be a sufferer to pay for his sins, even to point of death. He took with him the gift of myrrh, used to make healing medicine and perfume to embalm the dead.

I can neither affirm this legend as the inspired Word of God, nor can I confirm the historical accuracy of this legend, but this legend does one thing right. It displays and explains the three gifts of the magi very well. Most interesting is relating the symbolism of the gifts to the purpose of the magi’s visit: to worship. We know from the historically accurate Word of God that the magi came to worship the baby Jesus. There’s no doubt about that; just look it up in Matthew 2:2,11. But pay close attention to how they worship. They don’t surround him and sing songs to him. Instead, they worship him by giving him gifts. Also note that these gifts don’t just represent who Jesus is, but they also might reflect the giver and what the giver seeks in Jesus.

If you were to go to Bethlehem and go to the tradition spot of the manger, this is what it looks like now.

Maybe the magi can teach us something about passionate spirituality and vibrant worship. Now I suppose we could take a pilgrimage to Bethlehem, and we could leave at the traditional site of the manger a gift to that represents us and how we see Jesus. But I believe Paul provides us a more practical way to worship Jesus through gift giving. He provides those instructions in Romans 12:3-8.

Below you’ll see the passage, but you’ll notice I start the passage with Romans 12:1. That’s because I believe Romans 12:1-8 should be read as one paragraph, and I want to keep it in context. Some Bible translations will reflect this, while other Bible versions do not. I don’t have the space or time to teach you Greek grammar or syntax to help defend my position, but I know you remember your English classes, which taught you English grammar and syntax. Remember that that the first sentence of a paragraph is your topic sentence, while the following sentence go in detail about the topic. Keep that in mind when you read Romans 12:1-8.

Romans 12:1-2 NIV (1984 ed.)-

¹Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. ² Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. ³ For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. ⁴ Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. ⁶ We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. ⁷ If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; ⁸ if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully

Remember that the first sentence of the paragraph is the topic sentence. Paul’s topic sentence, if I may summarize Romans 12:1, is a command to offer their bodies as living sacrifices, which is their spiritual act of worship. Also remember that the term “living sacrifice” is a paradox. Both the Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians, familiar with the Jewish and pagan sacrificial system respectively, would tell you a sacrifice is not at all living, but it is very much dead. The term living sacrifice needs explanation, and Paul does so in Romans 12:2. A living sacrifice, to paraphrase Romans 12:2, is someone who no longer conforms to the pattern of the world, but is transformed by the renewing of the mind. That’s all internal, so how does someone live that externally? Romans 12:3-8 explains how to live out their spiritual act of worship.

12:3. Paul address the believers here on a personal level, as if he were there, speaking live to each one individually. Verse 3 begins with “For the grace given me.” Grace can mean, when used as an object like it is used here, “a spiritual gift that the Lord has given out of his graces.” Considering the rest of the paragraph goes on to talk about spiritual gifts, this definition would work here. With grace and spiritual gifts in mind, Paul issues a command to his readers. In this command, Paul plays around with a couple forms of the word σωφρονέω (sophroneo) “think” in this verse.  Since God has graced everyone with spiritual gifts, Paul commands everyone to not think of himself more highly than he ought. The idiom, “Don’t get a big a head” fits here. Christians with an inflated ego have no place in the church! Instead of having a big head, Paul instructs the believers to think of themselves in “sober judgment.” The Greek word for sober judgment, σωφρονεῖν (sophronein), might more literally translate to “sound thinking,” but many other words could communicate “sound thinking.” Paul picks this word for a good reason. To use another metaphor, the believers in Rome, especially those with sign gifts, might have become egoholics, drunk with their own ego. In this command Paul instructs the Christians in Rome to sober up their judgment with sound thinking.

Verse 3 closes with the phrase “in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” The measure of faith does not mean that people can have different amounts of salvation. The measure of faith does not mean that other people can have different levels of faith. Rather, quite the opposite. We all share the same faith, no matter how different people in a church can be. This faith levels the playing field for all Christians within a church. This faith is what qualifies us for our spiritual gifts, give us our spiritual gifts, and it determines how much or little we should use our gifts. Once again, the measure of faith gives us a healthy balance on how to think of ourselves with our spiritual gifts. A healthy way of viewing yourself is to is to view you as God views you. Not only does it give you a healthy self-esteem, but it also prevents you from getting a big head. This balance of humility and self-esteem should also give a healthy awareness of the importance and significance of the Christian contributing to the church. This will be helpful to remember as we enter our talk about spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts help give a healthy balance between humility and self-esteem. We should not think of our spiritual gifts more highly than they ought to be, but we should use them with sober judgment, in accordance to the faith God has given us. Remembering that the Holy Spirit empowers us with our spiritual gifts to glorify God keeps us in check. We cannot use our spiritual gifts to glorify ourselves, for that’s now what they are meant for.

12:4. Verses 4 starts off by emphasizing one body has many parts. This emphasis is to demonstrate that each body part has its own function, and therefore each body part has a different use for the body. A body all of one body part would not function, so a healthy body needs different body parts with different functions. The body parts work together to serve the body, not the body serving the body parts. When the body is healthy, the rest of the members are also healthy.

12:5. Verse 5 explains the illustration in verse 4. Just like a body has distinct body parts to perform certain functions, so the metaphorical Body of Christ, the church, has many distinct persons that come together to form one body, the Body of Christ. Just like the body has a diversity of body parts, they are all unified as one body. Unity in diversity will become the theme for the rest of the paragraph. God intended the Christian to be a communal one, not an individual one. Christians need the church, and the church needs Christians. When the distinct Christians in the church come together to build up the church or advance the kingdom of God, that’s what unites them in Christ. The metaphor of the body also reminds us that the Christian is to serve the church more than the church is to serve the Christian. When the Body of Christ mutually dependent on one another’s spiritual gift, you have a healthy Body of Christ. But once again, this can only happen if every Christian within the church views themselves and their gifts in the light of the grace God has given them.

12:6. Verse 6 begins a run-on sentence, which will not end until verse 8. Note how this verse starts off with “the graces given us,” whereas verse 3 begins with “the grace given me.” The same grace that made Paul who he was now worked wonders through the church at Rome. Verse 6 utilizes a beautiful wordplay. The Greek word used for spiritual is gift is χάρισμα (charismata), and the Greek word is χάρις (charis). This word play reminds the reader that God’s grace is the source of our spiritual gifts. This word play also reminds the reader that the purpose of God giving spiritual gifts to Christians is that so the Christian may by the tool or method of God’s blessing. Therefore, we should our spiritual gifts to grace others with God’s grace. Verse 6 brings the passage back to the individual level. Each individual believer has his or her own unique, distinct spiritual gift. Christians shouldn’t fret of what spiritual gifts that don’t have, what spiritual gifts other have, or even how other Christians use those other gifts. Nothing can be worse for a church when a Christian over-emphasizes or belittles a spiritual gift, whether that be someone else’s spiritual gift or his/her own. The Christian’s only concern is that he or she is using his or her own gifts, and he or she is using those gifts actively and energetically. In light of the previous verses, however, the reader needs to remember that such a spiritual gift needs to be utilized as God intended.

Paul lists prophecy as the first spiritual gift. Indeed, the Greek word used here is the word which transliterate and translate to get the word “prophecy.” Someone might be tempted to think of prophecy as simply predicting the future accurately, like a fortune teller, but prophecy meant so much more than just that. In fact, prophecy can talk of the past! Prophecy also included inspired utterances, and even sometimes just preaching. To sum it up in short, prophecy means proclaiming God’s message. Perhaps Paul listed this spiritual gift first because without God’s mouthpiece in the church speaking God’s Words, the church wouldn’t know how to prepare themselves to faithfully serve God. Notice how this gift is the only one that has the longest adverbial phrase “in proportion to his faith.” The phrase only appears here in the Old Testament. We know the phrase accurately translates into “measure” because it was used in the mathematics of measuring in the classical Greek period, but that doesn’t help ups theologically. We get a hint of what this means from a parallel passage about spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12-14. The church in Corinth was divided over spiritual gifts. Those who thought they had the “better spiritual gifts” (like prophecy) would uplift themselves because they had that spiritual gift, and they would put others down who didn’t have that spiritual gift. Maybe those who didn’t have that special spiritual gift might act or pretend like they did, just to avoid such humiliation. Paul instructs the church in Rome to that those who do not have the spiritual gift should not feel pressure to prophecy if they do not have that spiritual gift. In order to keep it in check, Paul commands those who have the spiritual gift the prophecy to use it in healthy proportion. The spiritual gift of prophecy should neither be overused or underused. It should be used in relationship to the truth already revealed to the church. By doing so, no one will treat prophecy like an extra special gift.

12:7. Paul lists teaching and service as the next two spiritual gifts. In the original Greek New Testament, the Greek word for service, διακονία (diakonia), is where we get the English word deacon. Earlier English translations would traditionally translate the spiritual gift as the gift of ministry, but modern-day English translations keep it simply to “serving.” Both “ministering” and “serving” are broad words, so neither really help understand what the  Serving might be in relationship the leadership mentioned in the next verse. Just as someone needs to lead in a ministry, someone needs to follow. Some have suggested service refers to the administrative tasks in a church. Today, this could mean everything from folding bulletins to collecting & counting the offering. Others have suggested service related to the ministry of reconciliation. If two members of the church did not get along, the deacon would step in to mediate until reconciliation is achieved. Service could also refer to caring for physical needs of the church.

Teaching differs from prophecy here in the sense a teacher transmits the doctrines and theologies that the prophet preaches, helps the church understand them, and then teaches the congregation how to live these truths out. Some interpreters have even suggested translating this spiritual gift as “mentoring,” for the teacher was more concerned about teaching the Christians how to live out the prophet’s words. Looking at this 2 independent clauses separately, the reader might forget the purpose of Paul listing the spiritual gifts. Therefore, it might be necessary to translate 12:7 as, “If God has given us the ability to teach, we should help the believers by teaching. If God has given us the ability to serve, we should help Christians by serving them.”

12:8. Encouraging could be as broad as other speaking ministries in the church beside prophesying and teaching. The gift of encouraging aims at the emotions and will. The encourager further emphasizes the what the preacher has preached and the teacher. If the prophet speaks the Word of God, and the teacher teaches them how to live out that the word, then the encourager encourages the church to heed God’s Word apply it to their lives. Encouraging is just as important as prophesying or teaching!  If God gave the believer the spiritual gift of encouraging, he or she should use it encourage other believers who need words of encouragement or the like. Someone might naturally think of the gift contributing as giving offerings, but it doesn’t need to be reduced to that. Contributing can be anything. Since God gives to his people in many forms, Christians can give in any form. In any case, if any Christian has the spiritual gift of giving, he or she should give generously and without skimping, and sincerely, without hidden or selfish motives.

 The spiritual gift of leadership should not be mistaken for any official title. Paul simply instructs the believers that if any ministry in the church lacks the guidance of leadership, the church should seek someone with the gift of leadership to fill that role. Paul also commands those with the spiritual gift of leadership to govern diligently.. Instead, Paul might be simply saying, “If a ministry in the church lacks direction or goals, don’t just get anyone in the ministry to supervise them. Find a leader who had the spiritual gift of leadership to help them!” Whether that is the case or not, it is clear that the spiritual gift of leaders is not to give the Christian the power, but rather, by leading, they empower the church. The adverb diligently emphasizes that someone with the gift of leadership should not lead halfheartedly lazily. Rather, a good leader should invest his energy in serving the church in this way.

Finally, Paul lists the gift of mercy. To those with the gift of mercy, Paul instructs them to practice mercy cheerfully. Yes, that too, sounds exactly what it should be. Those with the gift of mercy should help those who need mercy from life and society, such as the poor, the hungry, the elderly, the widow and the orphan. Mercy should be practiced with happiness, smiling, and without any sadness. Those with the gift of mercy should show how grateful and joyful they are for having such a spiritual gift. Those they help do need someone to make them feel like they are a trouble or a burden. Life and society has already done that for them. A Christian with the gift of mercy should exercise his or her gift cheerfully, so the person feels loved and appreciated in this life.

If I were to sum up Romans 12:6-9, I would use the motto of the New England Patriots: Do your job. This motto helped the New England Patriots win Super Bowl LI. Simply put, the motto means that each player has an assignment, and each player is expected to execute that assignment. The players know exactly where to be. They know how to execute the game plan. They push themselves to improve their skills. See, this is why football is my favorite sport. In sports like basketball or hockey, everyone is responsible for passing, shooting, blocking and stealing, regardless of the position you play. In football, roles change with different positions. Quarterbacks are responsible to pass. Running backs are responsible to run (and occasionally catch). Wide receivers are responsible to catch the ball, and then run with it. Tight ends help the quarterback either by catching his passes or protecting him with the offensive line. The offensive line protects the quarterback. Even on defense, while everyone can tackle, sack a land intercept, the defensive line primary sacks, while the secondary primarily intercepts. What a good metaphor for the church! God has given you a spiritual gift to put you to work in the church. Now to what God has spiritually gifted you to do so.

Now that we have detailed understanding of the spiritual gifts mentioned in Romans 12:3-8, let’s put them back into context. Remember these spiritual gifts were mentioned in the supporting sentences of a paragraph. The topic sentence of this paragraph was a command to offer their bodies as living sacrifices, which is a spiritual act of worship. Put it together, and what do you get? When Christian exercise their spiritual gifts in the church, they worship God!

Therefore, I feel confident that I can make a bold statement: there is no one in the church who doesn’t like to worship! Even if you honest enough to confess “I dislike worship,” or even if you willing to admit “I struggle to worship” or “I have to force myself to worship,” I don’t believe it, and neither should the people saying those things. If you think those thoughts or feel that way, you’ve been given the wrong definition of worship. For my Church at Worship class in seminary, I studied the top 2 Hebrew words for worship in the Hebrew Old Testament and the top 2 Greek words for worship in the Greek New Testament, and from those 2 Hebrew words and those 2 Greek words, I constructed this definition: Worship is when a person voluntarily serves God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) with his thoughts, speech and actions, in a way that demonstrates loyalty, submission and honor, which only the Lord deserves. Notice my definition does not go into more detail on how to do that, and I left it that way on purpose. I believe Romans 12:3-8 teaches us that those thoughts, those words and those actions come down to our spiritual gifts, or how God made us and how God equipped us.

I can testify to this in my life. Early on, in 6^th grade, I learned that the Lord gave me the spiritual gift of knowledge and prophecy. At the time, I had no idea how to use that, except to get A’s in my Bible class at my Mennonite middle school (clearly, I did not fully comprehend spiritual gifts at the age of 12). I trusted the Lord with my spiritual gifts, and ever since, I have seen further equip men and build me up in regards to these spiritual gifts. 8 years of Bible Quizzing, 4 years of working for Child Evangelism Fellowship as a Summer Missionary, 4 years of undergrad at Lancaster Bible College and 6 years at Evangelical Seminary all aimed at building up these spiritual gifts God has given me. At this point in my life, I believe the Lord continues to push me, now asking me to earn my Ph.D in Bible. Now wouldn’t be odd if God spoke to me and said, “Graham, I have brought you through 8 years of Bible Quizzing, 4 years of working for Child Evangelism Fellowship as a Summer Missionary, 4 years of undergrad at Lancaster Bible College and 6 years at Evangelical Seminary. And now, I want you to be…A LUMBERJACK! Leaping from tree to tree!  As they float down the mighty rivers of British Columbia!  With your girl by your side! Now sing: ‘Oh, I’m a lumberjack and I’m okay, I sleep all night and I work all day!’” (I’m going to stop there before it gets raunchy.) Yes, I know that’s a silly example, possibly too silly, but so many Christians act this way. Either they don’t know their spiritual gifts, or they know them but dismiss them. Either way, Christians think that their God wants them to worship contrary to how God made them or how God equipped them.

At my church, Stony Brook Mennonite Church, the New Church Development process has revealed, through surveys of the congregation, that the congregation feels like the church lack passionate spirituality and vibrant worship. Such thinking and feeling must come a wrong definition of worship. Honestly, I can’t see it. I can worship happening in the church, even where you may not see it. I see Lois worshipping when she collects the soap and the school bags for MCC. I see MaryAnne worshipping when she plans events for the women at Reach Out. I see Shawn worshipping when fixes up the church building, and I see Dawn worship as she balances the budge. I hear about Ron worshipping when I hear your testimonies about maintaining the cemetery, even if that’s mowing the lawn or adjusting tombstones! I see Lorie worshipping when she plans fellowship meals, community meals and rescue mission meals. And I see Carlton worshipping as listens to the congregation’s concerns as the member-at-large. Maybe this sounds like you. Perhaps you serve a similar role or function at your church. I want to encourage you right now by telling you are worshipping! Romans 12:3-8 teaches us that’s all worshipping. See, you can worship, and I encourage you to continue worshipping in this way.  As for me, my spiritual gifts are knowledge, teaching and prophecy. I worship by teaching Sunday School and preaching sermons. Those Sundays where I end up doing both, I always get concerns if I’m overwhelmed. That could be the furthest from the truth. God made me this way, God equipped me this way, so I love doing teaching and preaching, and I enjoy preaching and teaching because I know I worship God and serve the church by teaching and preaching. If I stopped teaching or preaching in the church, I would be doing a huge disservice to both God and the church.

Now you might be encouraged, now that you know you can worship, and you possibly have been worshipping without knowing, but you’re not off the hook just yet. If a may borrow another metaphor from the world of football, God did not create and equip Christians to become church benchwarmers. You, as a Christian are not meant to keep the pew warm every Sunday morning. I already said I would be doing God and the church a disservice if I did not use my spiritual gifts, and now I will say that you are doing your God and your church a huge disservice if you are not using your spiritual gifts. True, God does not expect you to worship or serve in a way that’s contrary to the way he made and equipped you, but he does expect you to worship and serve in the way that he has created you, especially if you know your spiritual gifts. If you don’t know your spiritual gifts, this is probably what’s hindering you from passionate spirituality and vibrant worship. Get to know your spiritual gifts, so you can worship vibrantly and serve the church. If you do know spiritual gifts, find a way use them to worship God and serve the church. On the flip side, I want you to make yourself aware of the needs within the church. Then I want you to think to yourself, “Is there anywhere where my spiritual gifts can help?” If you can honestly say no, then you are off the hook. To be sure if you are honest, I offer what I call “The Mirror Test.” Look at yourself in the mirror and say, “My spiritual gifts do no equip me for that ministry.” If you say into a mirror, and you laugh or get angry, you know you’re lying to yourself. Serve.

If you can say that without laughing or getting angry, you’re still not off the hook. Your new job is now to pray for someone to come to this church, who is spiritually gifted in that way, who can served the church in that need. One of my biggest pet peeves is when I hear an announcement in the church go something like this: “I need someone fill an opening for a Sunday School teacher. Please consider volunteering. Anyone can do it.” No! That’s not what Romans 12:3-8 says. Romans 12:3-8 says that God has spiritual gifted certain people to equip them for certain roles in the church. Not everyone can do it! I like how Bob Kauflin says it his book Worship Matters, “When Moses had to find men to oversee the construction of the tabernacle, he didn’t pass around a sign-up list. He chose craftsmen whom God had gifted with 'skill and intelligence' (Exodus 36:1).” God has in mind someone to fulfill that needed role in a church. That person may already attend the church, or that person may not. If he does not attend that church, God will call that person to come the church a need, and a humbly obedient Christian will answer the call. This stresses the importance of praying for needs in the church. If you serve your church and still have open spots, pray that God will fill them.

Finally, I believe one last lesson we can learn from Romans 12:3-8. Romans 12:3-8 emphasizes unity through diversity. We all come together to worship God, but we worship God different because God has gifted us differently. Therefore, we cannot tell other Christians they worship wrongly because they worship differently. Different worship doesn’t always necessarily mean wrong worship or lacking worship. Once again, I believe Bob Kauflin words it well in his book Worship Matters, “Our highest priority when we gather with the church is not our own personal expressiveness [in worship], but the privilege of serving others.” When we come together to worship, let us remember who we worship. If we concern ourselves with how people worship differently than us, our audience is not God, but ourselves.

One more football illustration to make my point. Carson Wentz is the quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. When you watch him practice or warm up, you’ll see his clothing (sometimes his shirts, sometimes his cleats) have inscribed on them “AO1.” “AO1” stands for “Audience of 1.” It is Carson Wentz’s motto. It means that whatever he is doing, whether that be school or work (for him, that’s playing football) or hobbies, he does it as the Lord is his only audience. That’s powerful to hear that coming from the mouth of Carson Wentz. Carson Wentz probably doesn’t go to church on Sunday mornings to belt out praise and worship songs. On Sunday mornings, if anything, he’s probably warming up his arm. Carson Wentz, however, has discovered the beauty using your God-given gifts and talents as worship. He has combined his faith with his quarterbacking talent to worship the Lord on the playing field. He teaches a weekly Bible to his fellow players. God has accepted such an offering. Since Carson Wentz has joined the Philadelphia Eagles, 6 Eagles players have been baptized. And of course, the Philadelphia went 10-1 in their first 11 games. If Carson Wentz can worship the Lord and serve others through his God-given gifts and talents outside church on Sunday morning, we can too!

In closing, I invite you to pray. Pray that the Lord will reveal to you the spiritual gifts and talents that he has given you, whether you know of them or not. Then, pray to God, asking him to reveal to you how you can use the spiritual gifts and talents to serve the church and worship him, and also pray the Holy Spirit will encourage and motivate you to fill it. Some of you will need a tap on the shoulder, some of you will need a smack on the head, and some of you need a swift kick in the butt, but it needs to be done. Next, pray to the Lord that he may open your eyes and reveal to you ministries lacking in your church open spots in current ministries. Finally, if you can honestly and sincerely say that you cannot fill those positions, pray that God will rise up someone to fulfill those positions. May we rise up to serve the church, and thus worship God.

Living Stones (1 Peter 2:4-8)

In August 2016, the 31^st Summer Olympic games took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. One of the first games to launch the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics was cycling. Early on in the cycling route, one of the struggles the cyclists had to deal with was cobblestones. The cobblestones caused quite the havoc. They were breaking bikes. They made the water bottles fall out of their holders, giving the cyclists additional obstacles to dodge. The cobblestones caused such a hassle that when a stretch of the cobblestone part had pavement, a majority of the cyclist went out of their way to bike on the paved part than to continue on the cobblestone part. The Bible doesn’t talk about cobblestones, but it talks about another stone that starts with a c: the cornerstone. If you’re not on the right side, the cornerstone will cause you trouble, just like bikers on cobblestone, but if you’re on the right side, you’ll find attitudes and behaviors worth imitating.

I invite everyone to turn in their Bibles to 1 Peter. You’ll find 1 Peter near the end of your Bibles. In fact, it’s the 7^th to last book of the Bible. It is an epistle, meaning it’s a letter, and it’s a general epistle, which simply means this epistle is not written by Paul. It’s written by Peter to churches in what they knew back then as northern Asia Minor, but today we know as northern Turkey. Peter was probably a bishop, or overseer, of these churches. To set the scene, a new emperor has come into power, and he’s not too fond of Christians. A new persecution has broken out across the land. Peter provides hope so the Christians in northern Asia Minor can stay strong, and he also gives them instruction how to behave in such a time. Let’s look at 1 Peter 2:4-8.

While I have much to disagree with when it comes to the theology of John Calvin, one thing I do appreciate about his hermeneutics, or the process he interpreted Scripture, is that he always put God first. It’s a hermeneutic I have adopted myself, but I give it an Anabaptist-Mennonite twist. I believe the best application starts with understanding what the passage teaches about Jesus, and then to apply it, I ask myself, “How do I respond to that?” I believe Peter is thinking the same way. Peter wants all who are reading his letter to understand they are living stones. In order to understand what it means to be a living stone, Peter first wants us to understand that Jesus Christ himself was the ultimate living stone. To prove Jesus is the living stone, Peter does not turn to the life of Jesus, but rather the Old Testament. After looking at these 3 proof texts from the Old Testament, you too will believe Jesus is the living stone.

Before we get into any of proof texts, we need to talk about cornerstones, for the cornerstone are found in both texts. The cornerstone typically was a big stone that supported two walls coming together to form an angle. And when I say big, I mean big. Archaeologists found cornerstones of public buildings measuring up to 37 feet long and weighing over one hundred pounds! The whole foundation rested on the cornerstone. The whole building’s strength and stability relied on a strong, durable cornerstone. The building’s structure and design started at its cornerstone, and it worked around the cornerstone. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the 2 proof texts.

This is the Western Wall inside of the tunnels. The Wailing Wall you are familiar with are in the southern part of the Western Wall. This is more of the northern part. This specific part, the lower part of the walk on the picture, is believed to be the cornerstone of Western Wall. It is the biggest stone on the Western Wall. It is 40 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 15 feet deep. It is estimate to weigh 570 tons. Not only in this the biggest stone on the temple mount, but the biggest stone in Israel.

As a proof text that Jesus is indeed the living stone, Peter quotes Isaiah 28:16. I’m going to turn to the actual Isaiah 28:16, for the wording a little bit different. I’m not going into all the details of textual criticism, but let’s just say that Peter is most likely quoting the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Old Testament, which might have paraphrased and abridged this passage. Since our English Bibles looked at the Hebrew manuscripts first, it has the full text, so I’m going to read out of that one. In Isaiah 28, Yahweh, through the prophet Isaiah, pronounces judgment on the nation of Israel in order to warn Judah they could face the same impending doom. Assyria was on its way to conquer Israel, and Judah would be next on the hit list if they too did not turn back to the Lord. Of course, the response God wanted was a response of repentance and obedience. Instead, Judah turns to making alliances, from alliances to the foreign nations to alliances with the foreign gods. Their latest alliance was with a foreign god, the god of the death. The people of Judah believed that their alliance with the god of death would hold off their time with death. Yahweh informs Judah, through the prophet Isaiah, that if anything, by turning to the god of death, they have hurried along their own death. Rather, the Lord God calls on Judah to trust him instead of trusting in foreign nations or foreign gods. The Lord assures Judah that Judah can trust in him because he has laid a stone which will become the cornerstone and foundation. Those who believe in it, God promises, will not be in haste. Whereas the god of death will hasten Judah’s death, the living God, who has the laid the foundational cornerstone will bring salvation and not hasten death.

Now this is the part where I’d like to pause and tell you what the cornerstone is in original context (that is, how the Jews living in Judah during Isaiah’s lifetime would have understood the cornerstone to mean), but to be honest with you, no one knows! Jewish and Christian scholars alike have debate what it means. They have hypothesized the cornerstone refers to the temple, the Law, the covenant, the city of Jerusalem, the nation of Judah, faithful Jews, the Davidic king, or even Yahweh himself, but no hypothesis has brought up enough proof or evidence to stand out as the leading theory. Yet when Peter quotes in 1 Peter 2:6, and Paul quotes it in Romans 9:33, they declare, without batting an eye or breaking a sweat, “This is about the Messiah, Jesus Christ.” Therefore, many Christian scholars have sided, stating this text to be purely messianic, simply because Peter and Paul said so.

When Peter reads Isaiah 28:16 and he quotes it 1 Peter 2:6, Peter only mentions certain parts of the verse because he wants to highlight those certain parts. Peter chooses to focus on the two words used to scribed this stone: chosen (or elect) and precious (or honored). The Greek word for chosen more specifically refers to a specific one chosen out of many because it is special. The Greek word for precious means to be held in high honor. Together, the emphasis is on God’s master plan. God’s master plan always had Jesus chosen as Messiah, and his death and resurrection honors him as precious. God’s actions also differed from that of the Jewish religious leader. Where God chose Jesus and held him in honor as precious, the Jewish religious leaders of the day rejected Jesus and declared him worthless. More on that later. Instead of closing with the believers “not being in haste,” Peter closes with the phrase “will never be put to shame” as the NIV puts it (I prefer the NIV here. The Greek uses a double negative of the word “no,” which in English, best translates to “never”). The Septuagint chose a more generic word for “haste,” kataischunthēi It best translates to the word “shame,” but it could also mean disappointed, dishonored or humiliated. Put it all together, Peter makes a strong theological statement. Never has the cornerstone brought shame, disappointment or humiliation in the past, and the cornerstone will never do so in the future. God has always been victorious in the past, and so he will be in the future. Therefore, the believer will never be disappointed or ashamed for having faith in the cornerstone. The believer has nothing to fear, for security in Jesus is secured.

As another proof text, Peter quotes Psalm 118:22. From a plain reading of the verse alone, the verse already carries a great irony. The word “rejected,” used here to describe the stone, carries this idea that builders saw it and decided it was useless and good for nothing. What a twist of fate that the stone would go on to become the cornerstone, a very important and significant stone.

Let’s talk about Psalm 118:22 in its original context. Psalm 118 is what Bible scholars call a “declarative praise psalm,” meaning that the psalm is praising and thanking God for his rescuing. Both Jewish and Christian tradition states the psalm was written after the Jews returned from exile, and it was written for the first Jewish holiday the Jews could celebrate back in their home land. How fitting that holiday was the Feast of Tabernacles! Not only does the Feast of Tabernacles celebrate God’s provision of a bountiful harvest, but it also celebrates God rescuing Israel from Egypt, pulling them out of wandering in the desert and putting them in a land of their own, where they could go from hunting and gathering to growing crops, from living in tents to living in houses, and from worshipping in a tabernacle to worshipping in a temple. The Jews returning from the exile must have felt the same way. Coming out of Babylon and coming back into Israel, the Jews had many reasons to celebrate God giving them a home of their own. Coming down to Psalm 118:22 specifically, the worship leader (probably a prophet, priest or king/governor) marvels at the Lord’s decision for a people of his own. Of the great nations and empires of the world, the Lord picked the smallest. While so many of those great empires have dismissed Israel as a bunch of useless people wasting a good land (or maybe won’t even recognize them as a sovereign country!), God has made that nation the foundation of history.

When Peter reads Psalm 118:22, he reads it as if the Psalm 118:22 is looking forward to Jesus Christ, what later theologians would call reading it cristocentrically. So when Peter reads Psalm 118:22, he’s not just thinking about Israel in general, but he’s think about a specific part of Israel, specifically the Davidic king. While the foreign nations and empires rejected Israel as a nation in general, they have also rejected its Davidic king, not seeing him as a legitimate ruler. Centuries later, during Peter’s lifetime, even the rejected nation of Israel would reject their own Davidic king, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Instead of the foreign rulers rejecting the Davidic king, now the Jewish religious leaders reject him. Little they know that the man they rejected as useless and good for nothing would become the king of the kingdom of God. On the flip side, we know Jesus ministered to Gentiles: a Syrophoenician woman, a Roman centurion, even some Greeks, just to name a few. Therefore, Peter concludes the issue no longer lies in the nationality of the person, but rather in their faith. In fact, I believe a better translation of the Greek should start out 1 Peter 2:7 by saying, “It is precious to the believer, but to the unbeliever…” Those who believe will find Jesus, as the living stone, as precious. Those who do not believe, the like foreign rulers and the Jewish Sanhedrin, will find themselves in the same judgment.

For a third proof text, Peter goes back to Isaiah, but this time, he goes to Isaiah 8:14. Once again, Peter uses only the part of the verse relevant to him, so let’s read the passage in its original location, and let’s look at it in its original context. Remember that Israel has chosen to side with foreign nations and foreign gods over the true living God. By doing so, they have made themselves enemies of the Lord. So many Jews have done so, even the prophet Isaiah needs a reminder from God himself not to fall into peer pressure and do the same. In Isaiah 8:14, Isaiah describes the Lord using the metaphor of a rock, and he uses it both ways. When a rock or stone come together to make a sanctuary, that sanctuary can become a fortress of protection and security for someone. On the flip side, a rock or stone can also bring harm to a person when used as a weapon or a trap. Those who side with the Lord find themselves protected, while those who side against the Lord find themselves in danger.

Peter links the stone or rock mentioned in Isaiah 8:14 to the cornerstone mentioned in Psalm 118:22. Not only has the stone builders rejected become cornerstone, but it has also become the stumbling stone and the rock of offense. Not only has the Jesus that the religious leaders rejected become the foundation of the faith, the Jewish religious leaders’ disbelief and disobedience towards will be their downfall, just like the Jews disbelief and disobedience in the Old Testament led them to exile in Babylon.

Now it’s time to put our 3 proof texts together. Remember our hermeneutic process. We start by asking “What does this passage teach me about Jesus?” and we end by asking, “How do I respond to that truth?” What did we learn about Jesus from 1 Peter 2:4-8? Overall, we learn that Jesus is chosen and precious, or elect and honored. Yahweh chose/elected Jesus as Messiah and King of the kingdom of God, so Yahweh held Jesus as precious and honored. No shame, disappointment, dishonor or humiliation can fall on Jesus. Even when governors, kings, emperors or rulers reject Jesus, Jesus will always have the victory. All 3 proof texts defend Peter’s position that Jesus Christ is the Living Stone.

How do we respond to this truth that Jesus is the Living Stone? 1 Peter 2:5 makes it clear. If Jesus Christ is the ultimate Living Stone, then if we as Christians believe in Jesus, we too are living stones. We are precious and honored in sight of God. God holds us in high esteem. We too have been chosen and elect. God has big plans for us, better than the best we could have ever imagined. But that means we have to take the good with the bad. Just as Jesus faced rejection as the Living Stone, so we too, as Christians and living stones, must also face rejection, persecution and maybe even martyrdom. But that bad side even had a good side on the flip side. By believing and trusting in Jesus as the Living Stone, we find our protection in Him. The enemies of Jesus, however, will find themselves in harm’s way.

How do we act in response to this truth that we, as Christians, are living stones? Once again, I point you to 1 Peter 2:5. The only active verb in 1 Peter 2:5 is “offer” as in “offer living sacrifices.” How do we live as spiritual sacrifices? The other place that mentions spiritual sacrifices in the New Testament is Romans 12:1, so I suppose we go could there for more instructions, but I believe a more immediate context gives better instructions. Just look up at 1 Peter 2:1. The verse reads, “So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.” Then 1 Peter 2:2 goes on to say, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation.” All those words in 1 Peter 2:1 have a negative tone to them, but the word “salvation” in 1 Peter 2:2 associates with the gospel, or the good news. Put it all together. The Christian, as a living stone, offers a spiritual sacrifice by rejecting all evil and other bad things, while growing in the gospel, or good things. 

While a plain reading of the text of 1 Peter 2:4-8 might have realized the same answer as looking deeper into the 3 Old Testament passages, the 3 proof texts give us an extra enlightenment. The Jews, God’s chosen people of the Old Testament, failed to live up to their role as livings stone. Not until Jesus came to this earth did God’s chosen one succeed and to live up that role. Let us, as Christians, not fail God again, but let us live up to that role as living stone.